Summary

The Presence of an organ antigen in the early chick embryo was first demonstrated by Schechtman (1948). He found that an antigenic substance common to brain, heart, liver and muscle of chicks at hatching is already present in primitive streak and early neurula stages of the embryo. This observation, with respect to brain and heart, was subsequently confirmed by Ebert (1950). McCallion & Langman (1964) have recently demonstrated that there are at least eight antigenic substances in the adult chicken brain that are class-specific but that are more or less common to other organs, with only quantitative differences. These authors have further demonstrated that there are at least three, possibly as many as five, antigenic substances in adult chicken brain that are not only class-specific but also tissue-specific, occurring only in the brain, spinal cord, nervous retina and nerves. The non-specific antigens appear progressively during the first 4 days of incubation.

Huntington's disease results in selective neurodegeneration in the forebrain and eventually death; there is currently no cure or therapy to slow its onset. Now, Ali Brivanlou and colleagues describe how isogenic stem cell lines with HTT repeat expansions give insights into the disease's cellular aetiology.

The resources pages of the Node and the BSDB have been combined and refurbished, with the new page designed to provide a range of useful links, including information on advocacy and outreach, new teaching resources for schools and databases for a wide range of species.